Great Depression
Your Task: Using two of the following ‘Public Enemies’ and their respective sources to write a 500-1000-word essay that fully answers the following prompt:
Prompt:
During the Great Depression (1929-1939) there were a series of famous gangsters such as John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Bonnie and Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, Machine Gun Kelly, John Ashley and Al Capone, committing crimes throughout the United States. This period became known in law enforcement as the Public Enemies Era based on the FBI keeping “Public Enemies” lists of wanted criminals. Below are a list of the criminals and their crimes. Despite their extensive list of criminal behavior and violence, many were and remain beloved by Americans. In your essay you should discuss why they were so beloved. You need to discuss the context (Great Depression) and if that had an impact on their public persona. Also include a discussion of the changes made in the criminal justice system because of their exploits.
| Name | Crimes | Years Active | Date of Death | Law enforcement Agency involved in capture | Nickname |
| John Dillinger | Bank Robbery, attempted murder, assault, grand theft auto | 1924-1934 | 1934 | ||
| Bonnie Parker Clyde Barrow | Murder (9 police officers & 4 civilians) Armed robbery, grand theft auto | 1930-1934 | 5/23/1934 | Dallas Sheriff’s Department FBI | Bonnie & Clyde |
| Alphonse Gabriel Capone | Money laundering, tax evasion, murder, bootlegger, racketeer, boss of Chicago Outfit | 1919-1931 | 1/25/1947 | FBI | Scarface |
| John Ashley | Bank & Train robber | 1915-1924 | 1924 | Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department | King of the Everglades |
| George Kelly Barnes | Bootlegger, kidnapping | 1920-1933 | 7/18/1954 | FBI | Machine Gun Kelly |
| Charles Arthur Floyd | Bank Robbery, murder | 1922-1934 | 10/22/1934 | Bureau of Investigation | Pretty Boy Floyd |
| Lester Joseph Gillis | Theft, bank robbery, murder, kidnapping, assault with intent to kill | 1921-1934 | 11/27/1934 | FBI | Baby Face Nelson |
Goals of this essay: The purpose of this assignment is to advance your ability to reason through a specific historical question and to communicate through written text your ideas. Thus: Your paper should critically consider the issue/problem and deliver all relevant information. You should also provide a clear thesis statement. In a paper this size, your introduction and thesis should appear in your first paragraph. Make sure to paraphrase your sources accurately. In other words, state what the source says, not what you wished it said or thought it said. You need to state the evidence fairly, even if you think it wrong or offensive. Your paper should use evidence to answer the historical question. Your paper should develop and organize your thoughts clearly and logically. Outlining is necessary, but not required, step in writing a well-organized paper. Your paper should draw a conclusion that addresses the paper’s chief topic or question and that states your answer to the question or your contribution to the topic.
Formatting: Your paper needs to be typed, double spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman font. You will need to cite your sources using the Chicago Manual of Style. Here is a link to an online resource for those unfamiliar with this style: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org. You will need to use footnotes for in text citations and your paper needs to have a bibliography page, with the sources you used in your paper.
Due Date:
Submitting assignment: To turn the paper in, click on assignments in your blackboard course. There you will see a Safe Assign icon titled Core Essay Midterm Assignment. Click on that icon and it will lead you through a process to upload your paper. Safe Assign will automatically check your paper for plagiarism. See the following link for the Universities policy on academic dishonesty, as well as your professor’s syllabus. www.tsu.edu/ssp/2015-TSU-Student-Code-of-Conduct.pdf
Note: By submitting your common core essay assignment, you accept that it will be checked by SafeAssign for plagiarism. The punishment for Academic Honesty Policy violations are listed in the TSU Student Code of Conduct and your Professor’s syllabus. You will need to submit your paper in either a pdf or a .doc format. This is a multi-step process. Failure on YOUR part to complete the submission process means the paper will not be submitted and you will not be given credit for the assignment. After the submission is complete blackboard will send you a SUBMISSION RECEIPT. KEEP THIS!!! If there is any confusion about submitting the assignment, this receipt will provide documentation to your submission. If you DO NOT receive a submission receipt something is wrong. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to make sure the submission went through. When the submission has been processed correctly there should be a round yellow circle with an exclamation point in it on blackboard under your grades for this assignment. If there are only dashes for your grade it means nothing has been submitted. You will upload the assignment like attaching a document to an email. After you have submitted it will ask you to wait while it checks your document. Blackboard will tell you when your submission has been accepted and has been uploaded. If you have any further questions about the submission process email or speak to your professor.
Primary & Secondary Sources:
You will have to navigate from this page to the different FBI files. This will also have information about the changes the Bureau after these cases.
https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/john-dillinger
https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/al-capone
